YAŞAM BECERİLERİ PSİKOLOJİ DERGİSİ

LIFE SKILLS JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

www.dergipark.org.tr/ybpd E-ISSN: 2587-1536

Yıl(Year): 2020, Cilt(Volume): 4, Sayı(Issue): 7, HAZİRAN(JUNE)

Geliş Tarihi(Received): 05/05/2020 Düzeltme Tarihi(Revised): 16/06/2020 Kabul Tarihi(Accepted): 16/06/2020

Life Skills Journal of Psychology, 2020; 4(7), 115-125. / Yaşam Becerileri Psikoloji Dergisi, 2020; 4(7), 115-125.

DOI: 10.31461/ybpd.732263
REVIEW / DERLEME

WORKING MOTHERS: INTENSIVE MOTHERING AND MOMISM*

Fatma Senem SAHLAR1, A.Meltem USTUNDAG BUDAK2
ABSTRACT
This literature review provides background information about the definition and historical context of
mothering experiences. The concept of motherhood and meaning making have been intensively studied
within both feminist and existential psychological perspectives, which are used in this paper to provide
an in-depth understanding of different aspects of becoming educated, working educated mothers
within the context of Turkey. According to the recently emerging momism concept, mother is redefined
as an ‘expert’ who should predict and understand all the emotional, cognitive and physiological needs
of their children. Mothers should be simultaneously therapists, pediatricians, teachers and best friends
for their children. Similarly, intensive mothering suggests that child-rearing is construed as child-
centered, expert guided, emotionally and economically absorbing, and labor intensive. Intensive
mothering and momism appears to be common among well-educated working women The aim of this
paper is to draw attention to the intensive mothering experiences of working mothers particularly in
Turkey and facilitate the much needed research for in this realm.
Key Words
Intensive Mothering, Momism, Working Mothers, Motherhood

ÇALIŞAN ANNELER: UZMAN ANNELİK VE YOĞUN ANNELİK

ÖZ
Bu literatür incelemesi, değişen annelik deneyimleri ve annelik tanımının tarihsel bağlamı hakkında
bilgileri sunmaktadır. Annelik kavramı ve anneliğin anlamı feminist ve varoluşcu yaklaşımlar
tarafından derinlemesine incelenmiştir. Türkiye bağlamında eğitimli çalışan anne olmanın farklı
yönlerinin derinlemesine anlaşılmasını sağlamak için bu yaklaşımların perspektifi bu incelemede
sunulmuştur. Son zamanlarda ortaya çıkan momizm kavramına göre anne, çocuklarının tüm duygusal,
bilişsel ve fizyolojik ihtiyaçlarını tahmin etmesi ve anlaması gereken bir 'uzman' olarak yeniden
tanımlanmaktadır. Anneler aynı anda terapist, çocuk doktoru, öğretmen ve çocukları için en iyi arkadaş
olmalıdır. Benzer şekilde, yoğun annelik, çocuk yetiştirmenin çocuk merkezli, uzman görüşü destekli,
çocuk üzerinde yoğunlaşmış duygusal, fiziksel ve ekonomik bir emek olarak tartışılmaktadır. Yoğun
annelik ve annelik iyi eğitimli çalışan kadınlar arasında yaygın görünmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı
özellikle Türkiye'de çalışan annelerin yoğun annelik ve uzman annelik olarak adlandırılan
deneyimlerine dikkat çekmek ve bu alanda ihtiyaç duyulan araştırmalara öncülük etmektir.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Uzman Annelik, Yoğun Annelik, Çalışan Anneler, Anne Olma

*This article is a summary of the master's thesis completed by Fatma Senem SAHLAR under the consultancy of Assistant
Professor Ayse Meltem BUDAK
1Clinical Psychologist, The Human Resource Development Foundation, e-mail: senemmu@yahoo.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-1053-

9005
2Asst. Prof. Dr., Bahcesehir University Department of Psychology, Istanbul-TURKEY, e-mail: aysemeltem.budak@eas.bau.edu.tr,

ORCID: 0000-0002-4159-8980
Citation: Sahlar, F.S., Ustundag Budak, A.M. (2020). Working mothers: Intensive mothering and momism. Life Skills Journal of
Psychology, 4(7), 115-125.

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

Introduction
Current Debates in Mothering
Considering both the historical context and contemporary mothering debates provide
an opportunity to evaluate in depth how definitions and practices of mothering have
changed during 19th century. Although it has always been difficult to agree on a
definition of mothering (Arendell, 2000), one shared theme is that mothering refers to
“The social practices of nurturing and caring for dependent children” (Arendell 2000,
p.1192). By definition, mothering includes dynamic activities to meet the needs of a
dependent child while not necessarily being limited to being female or being a woman.
According to Sara Ruddick (1994), the meaning of mothering or motherhood
dramatically changed during the 19th century. Mothering became associated with
womanhood and the perceived primary identity of a young adult woman. Although
mothering only concerns nurturing and caring for a child, and is only one part of the
representation of the identity of a woman who has a child, this concept was
reconstructed as synonymous with motherhood.
Chodorow (1978) widened the debate by asking: “How does woman become a mother
today?” Like Ruddick (1994), she also claimed that, for centuries, it has been assumed
that becoming a mother equates to becoming a woman. Even when the biological
mother of a child cannot provide this caring, it is generally another woman, and only
rarely a man, that takes responsibility for childcare. In many societies, women not
men are seen as children’s primary caregivers. Even in recent decades, the same
situation can be observed, even though many women’s social status, socio-economic,
educational or cultural backgrounds have changed dramatically. Although patterns of
childcare practice, time for child-bearing, and bearing a child alone or collectively
have changed, the nearly universal assumption that childcare is the primary duty of a
woman has not changed. Chodorow (1978) argued that, two centuries ago, childcare
was the essential reason for marriage, which was the primary duty of women. The
basic productive unit of society was the household so having a child, especially having
a boy, meant providing a new productive entity. While childcare was the primary duty
of women, it did not dominate all their time since they also had other production
responsibilities beyond reproduction. In addition, childcare was traditionally more of
a collective act in many societies.
Over the last two centuries, radical economic and social changes have taken place,
particularly the industrial revolution, mass production and capitalism, along with
changes in family size, infant mortality rates and types of fertility. Society’s basic
productive unit and workplace are no longer the household, with the workplace and
the home becoming clearly separated.
This has led to two different, polarized spheres being constructed within societies: the
private and public spheres. This dichotomy especially affected the position of women
in the household and also the meaning of the family. Household became a relational
and personal institution of society while losing its economic meaning. The family’s
private educational and religious functions, and its role in caring for old or sick family
members decreased, with these being responsibilities distributed among different
elements, such as schools, hospitals, old-age people’s homes, within the public sphere.
Women’s family responsibilities became dominated by caring for her children and her
husband. That is, with the development of capitalism, women’s reproduction function
became more dominant while their production responsibility decreased. In addition
to this, families became divided into smaller units as nuclear family, normally
comprising a mother, father and children. Because other older relatives, servants, and
older children were excluded from the family unit, the traditional collective child-
bearing and housework system also drastically changed in that the biological mother’s
family responsibility for childcare increased, along with housework and looking after
the men in the household (Chodorow, 1978).
Women’s status regarding both reproduction and production changed, both in the
family and society in the last few decades. As more women became independent
earners their economic independence allowed them to choose whether to stay or end

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

their marital relationships, leading to increased numbers of single or divorced

mothers, marrying later and having fewer children in recent decades. This new
economic, political and historical era has also reconstructed mothering practices and
ideologies. Although woman’s struggles and the feminist movement have achieved
significant successes regarding woman rights, these rights have been manipulated by
new mothering ideologies (Hays, 1996; Douglas & Michaels, 2004).
According to Douglas and Michaels (2004), the media have helped construct a new
type of mothering, especially for upper class, working mothers, since the 1980s. This
new ideology was promoted to increase white-collar working women’s economic
efficiency in terms of free-market ideology, labelled as new momism”: “A set of ideals,
norms, and practices most frequently and powerfully represented in the media, that seem on the
surface to celebrate motherhood, but which in reality promulgate standards of perfection that
are beyond your reach” (p. 620).
It has been noted that since the 1980s, mothers are the most profitable consumers in
the mother-child product market, with mothering exploited by media marketing, child
caring programming and child-mother product advertisements. The idea of ‘How a
woman can be an ideal, good mother’ has been widely promoted by the media
(Douglas and Michaels, 2004).
During this period, such motherhood myths have also been promoted in Turkey’s
mainstream media in Turkey (Türkdoğan, 2013), with the media being the most
important dynamic for inculcating postmodern consumerism in Turkish society,
alongside a new trend called “the society of the spectacle”. According to Türkdoğan
(2013), mothering has become a part that “spectacle”, in which authentic mothering
experiences are replaced by their representations.
Türkdoğan (2013) argues that the media has promoted these myths of ‘good’
mothering, which reflect the ideals of new momism, through the appearance of
popular singers, famous actress and models on childcare TV shows, in child-mother
product advertisements that advise what a ‘good’ mother should use to ensure the
well-being of her child or which type of mothering is the best. Thus, modern
mothering experiences in Turkey have become coupled with an ideology of ‘good’
mothering while the various products promoted by these famous mothers help
construct a new kind of consumerist desire (Türkdoğan, 2013).
Woman’s active agency, free will, self-control and autonomy are controversial
concepts within the feminist movement, and exploited in contradictory ways. For
example, women are encouraged to be both successful, independent professionals in
their jobs and spontaneous, relaxed, insightful and self-sacrificing mothers for their
children, and to do this willingly rather than because their husband forces them to. As
Douglas & Michaels (2004) put it that you can be both a sacrificing mother for your
kid and a successful manager in your job.
Under new momism, the mother is redefined as an ‘expert’ who should predict and
understand all the emotional, cognitive and physiological needs of their children.
Professional mothers should be simultaneously therapists, pediatricians, teachers and
best friends for their children. This idealized representation of mothering also creates
powerful competition with other mothers while the clusters of best mothering myths
determine the behaviors, feelings and thoughts of ‘good’ mothers, who should be
loving, protective, patient, caring and satisfying all their children’s needs at any given
moment (Douglas & Michaels, 2004).
Sharon Hays (1996, p.8) labeled this kind of mothering “intensive mothering”: “The
method of appropriate child-rearing is construed as child-centered, expert guided,
emotionally absorbing, labor intensive and financially expensive.” All infants are
vulnerable, depending on their care-giver for both their physical and psychological
needs in order to survive until they are at least 6-7 years old (Rogolf et al., 1976). Hays
(1996) supports this argument but adds that discussion of childcare rarely go on to
consider the father’s contribution. Instead, there is a silent consensus that the mother
is or should be the infant’s primary caregiver. If the mother is unavailable for care-
giving then usually another woman, such as a grandmother or babysitter, takes over,

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

but generally not a man. This cannot only be explained in terms of media
manipulation or economic imposition; rather, it is an effect of the wider patriarchal
system.
For modern mothers, there is a deep, ambivalent and confusing contradiction between
highly emotionally absorbing, child-centered mothering at home and being a rational,
competitive, hard-working woman in the workplace (Hays, 1996). Under these
contradictory demands of new momism, the question of how a mother makes sense of
her own experiences of becoming the mother of her own child get lost.
Becoming a mother in fact becoming significant other of a human child, does not
literally means that one’s intrinsic competencies or capabilities affect negatively.
However, contemporary cultural attitudes construct their discourses opposite of it.
Becoming a mother associates with a lessening of capacity. In that sense, working
mothers are left in a heavy conflict between “Work devotion” and “family devotion”,
(Corrinaldi, 2019). Ladge and Greenberg (2015) argue that a time of uncertainty for
working mothers arise whenever they return their jobs back after the bird of a first
child. They feel sense of loneliness and confusion between roles of “ideal worker” and
“good mother”.
Intensive mothering
According to Weingarten (1997), intensive mothering (Hays, 1996) has become
increasingly prevalent culturally for well-educated working mothers. This concept of
mothering constructs several dichotomies regarding mothering experiences, such
dependency versus intimacy towards child and self-sacrificing for the child versus
maintaining a balanced relationship regarding separate mother and child subjectivity.
Nadal and Sevilla’s (2015) study supports Weingarten’s (1997) perspective. They
found that better educated, middle-class mothers experience less happiness and
meaning and more fatigue and stress than less educated mothers. The temporary
negative states experienced by educated mothers, such as sadness, stress and
tiredness, are strongly associated with social pressure and expectations derived from
“intensive mothering” ideology. Similarly, Miller (2007) also found that well-
educated, middle-class women meet all the stereotypes of mothering myths in
western societies. The participants in her study were white, heterosexual, educated,
professional, upper middle-class women located at the centre of perfectionistic
mothering practices. She found that many of them felt disappointed, confused and
helpless during their early mothering experiences.
A feminist view of definitions of motherhood and mothering experience
O’Reilly (2004), author of an anniversary book on Rich’s “Of Born Woman”, argues
that two different meanings of motherhood have provided the analytical tools for
thinking about and studying motherhood. One definition of motherhood is more ‘male
defined’, which implicitly aims at the control and oppression of woman’s reproduction
within patriarchal social codes. That is, “the potential relationship of any woman to
her powers of reproduction- and to children; and the institution-which aims at
ensuring that potential- and all women-shall remain under male control” (Rich 1995,
cited in O’Reilly 2004, p. 2). The second definition, which refers to ‘mothering’ rather
than ‘motherhood’, includes women’s own agency and subjective experiences as ‘a
mother’ to claim that “mothering refers to women’s experiences of mothering that are
female-defined and centered and potentially empowering to women” (Rich 1995,
cited in O’Reilly 2004, p. 2). The former definition of motherhood as an institution is
male-dominant and gender blind, while oppressing woman. In contrast, the latter one
refers to mothering as a source of power for women, drawing on feminist,
phenomenological perspectives and women’s empowering, subjective experiences. In
this sense, the title of the current study is consciously based on the latter definition
due to its reference to ‘mothering experiences’ rather than ‘experiences of
motherhood’.
According to Arendell (2000), feminist constructionism has expanded within the
social sciences over recent decades, leading to a problematization of concepts like
mothering, motherhood, family and childhood by feminist scholars. Within

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

constructivist theory, two different approaches have developed to conceptualize

mothering experiences, namely the universalist and particularistic paradigms.
According to the universalist approach, while there are individual and cultural
variations, mothers also share some commonalities of “maternal practice”, such as
nurturing, protecting and training their infants (Leonard, 1996; Ruddick, 1994).
Because mothering experiences are shaped by the interaction of mother and child,
mothering is a learning process shaped by maternal practices (Barnett, Brennan, &
Marshall, 1994). On the other hand, from the particularistic approach view, mothering
cannot be the same universally given that each mother-child unit is unique. Each
woman has self-agency in her unique mothering experience through her cognitive,
emotional and behavioral abilities. Besides this self-agency, a woman’s mothering
experience should be interpreted within a specific historical, socio-cultural and
economic context that shapes the mothering experiences (Collins, 1991; Arendell,
2000). Consequently, the standpoints of individual mothers living in different
contextual frameworks should be taken into account (Glenn, 1992).
Becoming a mother as existential questioning and self-transformation
Becoming a new mother is an experience that can trigger questions about the meaning
of life, which is a fundamental concept for existential psychology in giving motivation
for living (Frankl, 1978; Van Duzen, 2007). The important existential philosopher
Heidegger argued that, to understand a human being’s motivation for living, requires
a focus on her/his immediate actions; that is, an account of their immediate
experiences (Rendtorff, 2004 cited in Prinds et al., 2013). Thus, a woman’s questions
about becoming a mother relate to questions about the meaning of life, and explicitly
to the meaning of her mothering experiences. Becoming a mother, particularly the
first experience of mothering is perhaps the most powerful change in a woman’s life,
entailing a self transformation that is both physiological and psychological (Barclay,
Everlitt, Rogan, Schmied V. & Wyllie, 1997; Trad, 1990). Regarding physiological
changes, Benedek (1995) suggests that external transformations during pregnancy,
such as enlarged breasts and body size, and raised progesterone levels, play a key role
in the woman’s internal transformation. This internal transformation in turn
dramatically alters her sense of self and her sense of others. Bibring (1959) labelled
this ambivalent process the onset of the “maturational crisis” that lasts throughout
pregnancy through delivery and into early motherhood (Lester & Notman, 1988). In
many societies, cultural stereotypes about mothering emphasize only the positive
aspects of this experience, such as enthusiastic breastfeeding or ‘magical’ maternal
love, whereas it is considered inappropriate for new mothers to express their
ambivalent impulses, conflicted feelings, especially after becoming a first-time
mother, and the negative effects of this self-transformation (Trad, 1990).
According to Davis-Floyd (2003), women’s mothering experiences have to be
understood in relation to the core values of the society in which the woman was born.
More specifically, the values surrounding the new mother may reflect two different
value systems regarding care: the technocratic or wholistic model. The former tends
to predominate in the healthcare systems of many societies, which unfortunately
entails a positivistic, patriarchal approach that excludes the authentic experiences of
new mothers by considering the body as a machine rather than a living organism. In
contrast, the wholistic model acknowledges and values the authentic experiences and
feelings of women as new mothers.
From their study of 55 first-time mothers, Barclay et al. (1997) showed that
psychological adaptation to the idea of becoming a mother takes some time because
the woman’s realization that she has a child involves shocking experiences in terms of
radical changes to her own life. First-time mothers may experience a kind of
unpreparedness to have a child despite having prepared themselves mentally and
psychologically during pregnancy. In particular, they may experience loneliness and a
lack of support from their partners, healthcare workers and society; a drastic sense of
feeling drained because of sleepless nights and endless childcare tasks; and a sense of
loss for their lives before having a child.
Trad’s (1990) study of five new mothers identified themes of ambivalence, over-

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

identification, regression, hostility and separation that are implicit during the internal
transformation of pregnancy and first-time mothering. Tina Miller (2007) conducted
a longitudinal, qualitative study of 17 middle-class, white, North American women’s
mothering experiences during the transition to first-time motherhood. She revealed
various powerful but unrealistic ‘good mothering’ discourses surrounding these
women from the beginning of their pregnancies. She found that their personal
experiences of mothering and motherhood were largely dominated by the discourse
of women’s ‘natural and “instinctive’ care capacities (Hays, 1996). These unrealistic
expectations about motherhood are constructed especially by medical experts, who
promote optimistic stories about birth and child rearing, which prevent women from
preparing realistically for birth and early mothering (Cosslett, 1994).
Miller (2007) reported that many of her participants experienced deep
disappointment when they encountered so many difficulties in childbirth and
mothering, which destroyed their expectations of being ready to become good
mothers. They felt confused, disappointed and helpless because of the contradiction
between the supposedly natural, instinctive approach to mothering promoted before
their child’s birth and the difficult realities of becoming a mother after delivery. Many
cultures cloak first-time mothering experiences in optimistic, instinctual myths about
good mothering. In contrast, the other side, the dark side, which also belongs to a
woman’s authentic mothering experiences are generally unacceptable and unspoken,
particularly feelings of unreadiness, loneliness, hostility, disappointment, loss and
helplessness (Barclay et al., 1997; Miller, 2007; Trad,1990).
Becoming a working mother
Undoubtedly, giving birth to become both a first-time and working mother
significantly affects life cycle of a woman in terms of changes to family dynamics, life
style, couple relations and career. In particular, the well-being of the child is a serious
concern for women as they resume their careers after taking maternity leave for the
birth. In addition to other complicated care-giving decisions, a woman who is
supposed to continue her career also has to decide how best to ensure her child’s
welfare (Hock et al., 1980).
Johnston and Swanson (2006) examined the relationship between the good mothering
constructs of 95 working mothers and their choices to work full time, part time or
remain at home. They found that this choice of work status was influenced by their
mothering perspectives, particularly in the idea that good mothering means “happy
mothers and happy children”. The participants reported that their maternal happiness
and the well-being of their children depended on their work decisions. For example,
the mothering perspectives of the stay-at-home mothers was related to “always being
there” for their children whereas full-time working mothers defined their mothering
perspectives in terms of retaining a personal sphere for themselves outside of the
home and their children.
Maternal employment has various effects on the mother-child relationship. De Meis et
al.’s (1986) maternal belief system approach and Benn’s (1986) focus on women’s
emotional functioning to integrate mothering and working provide two useful ways to
understand the experiences of working mothers. According to DeMeis et al. (1986), a
woman evaluates her mother-child dyad through three different belief systems as a
working mother, which in turn affect her mothering experience. The first is “maternal
separation anxiety”, comprising feelings of guilt, worry and anxiety about leaving her
child to go to work. This belief system originates in the idea that the child-mother
dyad is unique and that she, the mother, is the best carer of her child. The second
belief system concerns the effects of separation on her child because the child’s
positive or negative reactions affect the mother’s relationship with her child. The third
belief system relates to the balance between mothering and working, particularly the
mother’s commitment to and investment in her career and maternal roles.
The second perspective (Benn, 1986) focuses on women’s emotional functioning,
whereby three different maternal affects influence the mother’s ability to integrate
her maternal role with employment. According to Benn, women who report a high
level of maternal integration with employment have warmer and more satisfying

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

mothering experiences, and are more sensitive to their child’s needs. A moderate level
of emotional functioning causes a sense of ambivalence and frustration regarding
their mothering experiences whereas a low level of emotional functioning is
associated with a sense of anger and frustration with the maternal role, and a sense of
mothering as a burden of childcare work and dependence on the child.
According to psychoanalytical feminist constructivist perspectives, women’s
socialization in many societies includes feelings of guilt. Women are particularly
encouraged to take responsibility for childcare tasks, with women’s identity and
relationship patterns constructed around taking responsibility and caring for others.
The resulting conflicts about taking responsibility for others, for instance a conflict
between caring for a child and working in a job create feelings of guilt in women
(Chodorow, 1978; Gillian, 1982).
Elvin Nowak (1999) explored the experiences of guilt in 13 working mothers with
young children from a feminist socio-psychological perspective using
phenomenological methodology. She found that all the participants described
maternal guilt in relation to their sense of responsibility for their children. When
other life duties, such as jobs or careers became more demanding, they felt that they
had failed in their childcare responsibilities, which led to feelings of guilt. Nowak
(1999) also argued that, although modern women are assumed to have many choices
and to have free will to choose whatever they want, they face many obstacles,
including implicit socialization that taking responsibility for a child is a woman’s
primary duty. Thus, despite having many alternatives for care-giving for their child,
women must still decide which is best, both for that child’s welfare and her own
career.
The following sections review the literature on how well-being, social support
mechanisms and women’s educational and economic status affect their experiences as
working mothers. This is followed by a historical outline of the context of women’s
employment in Turkey in order to understand the background to becoming a working
mother in Turkey and its cultural implications.
Becoming a working mother in Turkey
Historically, women have long been a significant part of labor force in Anatolia.
Women first joined the public labor in 1843 as midwives, before becoming paid
workers in 1897. With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, women
gained new rights in education, employment and politics, with employment permitted
and encouraged as a national policy. Women’s employment and social status of have
been the basic focus of the Ministry of Family and Social Politics since 2011 (Yatkıl,
2011).
The existing rights for working mothers and the working environment of working
mothers were legislated in 2013. According to current labor law, “woman employees
have rights regarding paid leave before and 8 weeks after delivery. These rights can
be changed by a doctor’s view in support of a woman employee. Companies must
supply a breastfeeding room. Women employees have permission to breastfeed for 90
minutes per day until their child is 12 months old. Mothers can use their rights
whenever they want during the day” (Gül, et al., 2014 p.170).
Although the law stipulates many reformist and supportive rights regarding the
employment conditions of working mothers, the law is not implemented adequately in
practice. As Gökdemir et al. (2008) showed from their study of the breastfeeding
experiences of 10 working mothers, women unfortunately do not benefit from their
mothering rights because of patriarchal working environments and psychological
pressures. Instead, they are afraid of bullying negative effects on their careers or being
fired. Women can only benefit from their rights at the personal whim of companies or
employers.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUİK), women’s employment ratewas
only 27.5 % in Turkey in 2016, compared to 74% in Sweden, which had the highest
percentage of EU countries, and 42.5 % in Greece, with the lowest. The average rate of
women’s employment across 28 EU countries was 60.4%. This gap between Turkey

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

and EU states is only smaller for well-educated (university graduated) women, whose
employment rate was 71.6%. According to family structure research, even if they are
working mothers, women remain more responsible for everyday and long-term
housework tasks, such as cleaning, cooking and childcare. Men are more responsible
temporary or short-term household tasks, such as repairs or paying bills (TUİK,
2016).
According to the Turkish Population and Health (TNSA, 2013), 64% of Turkish women
first give birth when they are 30 years old, with the most frequent childbearing ages
between 25 and 29. This age was between 20 and 24 years old four years ago. Thus,
fertility patterns have changed, in that Turkish women are delaying childbirth (TNSA,
2013). Women in western Turkey tend to breastfeed for longer and have better
health, as women with better education and high SES (TNSA, 2013).
In Turkey, 70% of working women have a child under the age of 6 while 30% have
more than one child under 6 years old, which makes childcare a critical issue for
women’s employment. The primary care-giver for a child under 6 is usually a woman,
with 27% of caring for their own child while working at the same time. Many women
are therefore forced to take their children to work or change their job and work from
home. The percentage of working mothers whose own mother or mother-in law took
responsibility for childcare was 16%. The percentage of working mothers who use
pre-schools or kindergartens for childcare was 15% (TNSA, 2013). Although well-
educated, high-achieving women in Turkey constitute a significant proportion of
mothers in Turkey, there are few studies of their experience of mothering. As Miller
(2007) noted, these mothers match all the stereotypes of “good mothering myths” in
western societies as they are white, heterosexual, educated, professional, upper
middle-class women located at the centre of perfectionistic mothering practices.
Unfortunately, however, many feel disappointed, confused and helpless because of
deep contradictions between their own authentic mothering experiences and the
expected but unrealistic ones (Miller, 2007). Overall, women’s employment rate was
27.5% in Turkey in 2016, while that of well-educated university-graduated women
was 71.6%. Although exact figures for the percentage of working mothers who are
both well-educated, with higher SES and have a child under 6 years old are not
available, it is known that 70% of working mothers overall have a child under the age
of 6 (TUİK, 2016).
The well-being of working mothers
The social sciences offer two different approaches to defining well-being. One derives
from a disease framework, whereby a “reduction in maladaptive functioning or
psychological distress (Wall, 2007). The second perspective originated in positive
psychology, whereby well-being refers to not having any illness (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
Wall (2007) notes that working mothers have greater access to the psychological,
social and economic resources that undisputedly contribute towards maternal well-
being. Working women have more opportunities to develop self-confidence, have
fewer physical and psychological problems, and greater self-efficacy than stay-at-
home mothers (Rout et al., 1997). However, employment does not contribute to
maternal well-being in isolation because other dynamics, such as length of working
time, flexibility of the working environment or internalized maternal ideology also
directly determine maternal well-being.
According to Benedek (1949), it is essential that women experience fulfillment and
pleasure within the child-mother dyad in order to feel confident about their
mothering ability. The quality and quantity of employment, meaning the working
environment and working time, directly affects these women’s well-being and can be
an obstacle to an intimate, fulfilling mothering experience. Hays (1996) pointed out
that intensive mothering, which has become a widespread ideology in western
societies, promotes high expectations of mothering as if a mother can only be ‘good’
by being ‘perfect’. Rizzo et al. (2013) studied the relationship between intensive
mothering and women’s negative mental health outcomes using the Intensive
Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire (IPAQ). They found that highly intensive mothering
was associated with more negative mental health outcomes, such as depression,

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

reduced life satisfaction and more psychological distress. Henderson et al. (2016) also
found that mothers who internalized intensive mothering practices are at risk of
increased stress, anxiety and low self-efficacy. Such perfectionistic mothering
experiences not only increase stress and anxiety but also provoke maternal guilt as if
these mothers feel that they can never be ‘adequate’, regardless of how much they do
to satisfy their child’s needs.
Social support for working mothers
According to social support theory, social support resources are particularly
significant for a person’s well-being during major life changes such as becoming a
mother (Caplan & Killilea, 1976). Social support refers to “continuing social
aggregates (namely, continuing interactions with another individual, a network, a
group, or an organization) that provide individuals with opportunities for feedback
about themselves and for validation of their expectations about others which may
offset deficiencies in these communications within the larger community context”
(Caplan, 1976 p. 200). Jacobson identified three kinds of social support: emotional,
instrumental and informational (Jacobson, 1986). Emotional support is the emotional
sources or reactions from others towards the person who needs support.
Instrumental social support includes all financial, service and material goods needed
for dealing with an issue. Informational support refers to advice, knowledge and
experience that others share with the person regarding a problem.
From their study of the experience of social support of 10 working Korean mothers,
Phang and Lee (2009) found that these women needed more support from their
husbands rather than family members, child or government. The most critical factor
to avoid feeling mothering as a burden and maternal guilt was emotional support,
which included feelings of belongingness, love and acceptance by their husbands.
Thus, their study supports Jacobson’s (1976) arguments that emotional support is the
most useful form, especially during transitions or critical life changes. Given that first-
time mothering and becoming a working mother both affect a woman’ life
dramatically, a woman in this stiuation initially needs emotional support from
significant others.
Conclusion
This review draws attention to the experiences of mothers who are educated working
upper class women and introduces the concept of intensive mothering. Although there
is some research interest on this subject there is limited understanding of such
experiences. Previous studies have investigated the mothering experiences of low
income and single parent mothers or those who have children with disabilities, but
not highly educated or high-income mothers, which are also important dimensions for
understanding mothering experiences. This gap may be rooted in assumptions that
well-educated, working mothers may have easy access to social support mechanisms,
freeing them from the usual vulnerabilities or difficulties of mothering. Particularly
for Turkish educated working mothers’ experiences needs to be understand from
their experiences. The intensive mothering appears to have negative consequences for
mother for their children. Further research is need to understand this phenomenon so
that women can be supported by relevant policy and services for work environment
improvements as well as their mental health and well-being needs.

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 Working Mothers: Intensive Mothering and Momism

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